World Breaking News

Between Terror and the Government Crackdown, Turkish Society Is Under Threat

January 10, 2017

The sun has not yet risen in Istanbul, but Aylin* is wide awake. She has tidied her flat, sent a few messages to friends, and packed a small bag. She makes coffee and, catching her reflection in the dark windows, sits down to wait: for a knock on the door, or the sound of boots running up the stairs to her flat. Aylin is a human rights activist, well-known to the Turkish authorities, and since the failed coup of July 15, 2016 that led to a sweeping crackdown on government critics, she has performed this ritual almost every day. She says that she is terrified of being woken up by the police, in one of the dawn raids that have claimed so many of her friends and colleagues in recent months. Your browser does not support iframes. Is Aylin just paranoid? It seems not. Since the coup attempt, tens of thousands of people have been arrested in Turkey. Near 400 NGOs have been permanently closed and Turkey now accounts for almost a third of journalists imprisoned worldwide. Many of the people who have spent time in Turkey’s overflowing jails are there on the flimsiest of pretexts; like Şenol Buran, who runs the cafeteria at the opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper, and spent nine days in detention after he was overheard saying that he would not serve tea to President Erdoğan. This is the new reality in Turkey, where everybody has to watch what they say. No insult is too small to be…more detail

Turkish authorities have arrested five soldiers on suspicion of assisting a suicide bomb attack which left 14 soldiers dead last month and wounded 56 in the central city of Kayseri, state media reported Friday. A bus transporting off-duty soldiers to a shopping trip was hit by an explosion after leaving the military’s headquarters in the Anatolian city on December 17 2016. The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) claimed responsibility for the attack. Your browser does not support iframes. The suspects, from the same headquarters as the soldiers who died in the attack, are charged with “helping a terrorist organization” and “leaking…... [read more]

ISTANBUL (AP) — Kurdish militants have claimed responsibility for last week's car bombing attack that killed a policeman and a courthouse employee in western Turkey. The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, or TAK, says that two members of its "revenge team" died in the Jan. 5 Izmir attack, according to a news agency close to Kurdish militants. Firat News Agency, quoting a statement by the group Wednesday, identified the attackers as "comrades" Mustafa Coban and Enes Yildirim, aged 29 and 25 respectively. FILE - In this Jan. 5, 2017 file photo, cars burn after a car bomb explosion in Izmir, Turkey. Kurdish…... [read more]

The killing by an Islamic State (Isis) gunman of 39 civilians in a night club in Istanbul is the latest massacre Turkey where such slaughter is now happening every few weeks. The perpetrators may differ but the cumulative effect of these atrocities is to persuade Turks that they live in an increasingly frightening and unstable country. It is also clear that the Turkish government does not know what to do to stop these attacks. These are likely to continue with unrelenting savagery whatever the government does because Isis is too big and well-resourced to be eliminated. It is well-rooted in…... [read more]

Hunt continues for Istanbul nightclub attacker At least 39 dead, including 25 foreigners Witnesses describe panic in club British tourists urged to be vigilant More than two dozen foreign nationals celebrating the start of the new year in Istanbul were among the victims of a shooting spree at a popular nightclub that left 39 dead and dozens wounded. Turkish police were on Sunday hunting an unidentified gunman who opened fire in the early hours of 2017 in the Reina club, one of the city's most famous venues. The attacker left his gun before "taking advantage of the chaos" and fleeing…... [read more]

"'You are a writer. You have to speak up,' I kept telling myself," said Yasar Kemal, the great Turkish author of Kurdish descent. As a human rights activist and advocate of pluralistic democracy, his task was not easy - to promote co-existence in a land where hatred spoke louder than peace. Since his death in 2015, things have taken a turn for the worse. Yet another terror attack hit Turkey this weekend, aiming at driving a further wedge between Turks and Kurds, and shattering our hopes for peaceful reconciliation. Shaken by 31 suicide attacks and bombings in the past 15…... [read more]

Thirteen Turkish soldiers were killed and dozens more wounded in a car bombing targeting off-duty conscripts being taken by bus on a weekend shopping trip, the latest in a string of attacks to rock Turkey in recent months. Forty-eight soldiers were wounded in Saturday's attack in the central Anatolian city of Kayseri, the army said in a statement, adding that there could also be civilian casualties. Television pictures showed that the bus had been reduced to a smouldering wreck by the impact of the blast, as wounded were taken to waiting ambulances. The explosion comes a week after 44 people…... [read more]

A car bombing in central Turkey killed 13 soldiers and wounded nearly 50 more members of the military on Saturday, the latest in a series of attacks in the country. The attack, in the city of Kayseri, targeted a bus carrying soldiers on weekend leave, the Turkish Army said in a statement. Fifty-five people were wounded, including 48 members of the military. Of those wounded, 12 were in critical condition, Turkey’s interior minister, Suleyman Soylu, said. Footage showed a bus in flames near a university campus as people tried to extinguish the fire. A wrecked car was nearby. “I saw…... [read more]

A BUS has exploded in the central Turkish city of Kayseri killing 13 soldiers and leaving 48 wounded. The bombing took place earlier today and targeted off-duty military personnel travelling on a bus in the latest attack to hit the country in recent weeks. Television pictures showed that the bus had been reduced to a smouldering wreck by the impact of the blast. The explosion comes a week after 44 people were killed on December 10 in a double bombing in Istanbul after a football match. The attack was claimed by Kurdish militants. Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak said in…... [read more]

An explosion in central Turkey tore through a bus carrying off-duty soldiers early Saturday, killing at least 13 people and wounding dozens in the second major attack targeting Turkey’s security forces in a week, the authorities said. A military statement said the explosion, in the town of Kayseri, was caused by a car bomb. The 13 who were killed were soldiers on leave from the Kayseri Commando Brigade, the statement said, adding that civilians may have been among the injured. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosion. It came days after Kurdish militants carried out twin bombings…... [read more]

Turkey hit Kurdish militant targets in northern Iraq less than 24 hours after twin attacks in Istanbul killed 38 that were claimed by a Kurdish splinter group, local media reported Monday. Late Saturday, a car bomb exploded outside the home stadium of football giants Besiktas and less than a minute later, a suicide attacker blew himself up by a group of police at a nearby park. Thirty police officers and seven civilians were killed, while there is one person who has yet to be identified. Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) rebels stop a car at a security checkpoint near a PKK…... [read more]